32. Levi
Levi and Alexis bumped back down the rutted driveway to Tamra’s home. The rain was drumming heavily on the roof, making it impossible to talk without yelling. They probably should have checked the weather forecast before they left the city. Saying that now would not be helpful, so Levi kept his mouth shut. He was learning that he didn’t have to state every obvious thought he had in the name of honesty.
Tamra opened her front door for them before they’d even gotten out of the car.
‘Ready?’ Levi asked Alexis, his hand on the car door.
She nodded, and together they sprinted for the cover of the porch. In that short distance, they were both soaked.
‘The roads are closed?’ Tamra asked after she led them inside.
Levi nodded. ‘We tried two different ways and still couldn’t get through.’
‘Happens all the time,’ she replied with a click of her tongue. ‘And by the looks of this rain, I doubt they’ll be open any time soon.’
Alexis looked at Levi with concern. ‘We can’t get home?’
‘Probably not until tomorrow,’ Tamra answered. ‘You’re welcome to stay here.’
‘What about Tofu?’
‘Oh, I have plenty of that,’ Tamra said.
Alexis looked at her in confusion for a moment before shaking her head and smiling. ‘No, not that kind of tofu. I’m cat-sitting. The cat’s name is Tofu. She’ll be alone if I can’t get back.’
Levi pulled out his phone and checked the reception, turning it to show Alexis. ‘We can call someone to look after her,’ he said.
‘What about Evelyn? And Sarah and Theo?’
‘Theo and Sarah are old enough to look after themselves,’ he said. ‘I’ll let Theo know we’re stuck, and you can call someone to look after Tofu.’
‘Who?’ she asked. ‘I… I don’t know anyone who I would trust to go into Evelyn’s apartment.’
‘Elias?’ Levi suggested, although he didn’t know why he thought of his brother. He couldn’t exactly say Elias was the most responsible person, but he did know Evelyn had a soft spot for him, so maybe she wouldn’t be too mad if she found out he’d been there.
Alexis thought about it for a minute before reluctantly agreeing. ‘I’ll call Elias?—’
‘I can call him,’ Levi said, a spike of illogical jealousy making his voice harsher than he intended.
‘You don’t know Evelyn’s door code,’ Alexis said reasonably, gently chastising him. ‘I’ll call him. You call Theo.’
Levi stabbed Theo’s number into his phone and lifted it to his ear.
‘Have you abandoned us?’ Theo said by way of greeting.
‘We’re flooded in,’ Levi replied dryly.
‘It’s only been raining for five minutes.’
‘Hm, a little longer than that,’ Levi corrected. ‘Plus, there was flooding here not too long ago, so it didn’t take much to happen again.’
‘So…’
‘So you and Sarah are on your own for the night.’
Theo was silent for a long moment. ‘Sarah and I need to find somewhere to spend the night? Together? Alone?’
Why did Theo sound so freaked out about that?
‘Not necessarily,’ Levi replied. ‘You could hire a car and drive back to the city if you want to. Actually, that might be a good idea. Tofu?—’
‘No!’ Theo cleared his throat. ‘No, that’s okay. I’m sure we can find a place to stay to wait out the rain.’
‘Are you sure? You don’t want to check with Sarah?’
‘She’s fine with it,’ he replied. ‘But what about you and Alexis? Where will you stay?’
‘Don’t worry about us,’ Levi said, looking over at the woman in question. She was perched on the edge of the couch, her knees bopping as she chewed her thumbnail while talking on the phone. ‘We’ve got a place to stay.’
‘Be good,’ Theo said, and Levi could just imagine the smirk on his face. ‘Or be good at it.’
Levi swore at his friend before disconnecting the call and walking over to Alexis.
‘Thank you, Elias. I owe you big time,’ Alexis said into the phone.
Levi did not like the sound of that, but he didn’t say anything.
‘Okay. Elias is sorted. Now I just have to work out what to tell Evelyn when she calls.’
‘Technical difficulties?’ Levi suggested.
Alexis nodded slowly. ‘I’ll tell her I dropped my phone, and the screen cracked.’
Tamra handed them each a glass of wine. ‘You sound like you need this.’
‘Thanks,’ Levi said. ‘I hope we’re not too much of an imposition.’
‘Not at all. It means I get to spend some time with Lily’s daughter. I’m actually a little grateful to the rain.’
Alexis looked up at Tamra. ‘Do you… do you have any photos or letters from her? It’s been so long… Dad got rid of everything related to her. I only found a photo of you and her by accident.’
Tamra tapped her lip as she thought. ‘I might have some old photo albums somewhere. Let me check the storage room.’
‘I’ll help you,’ Alexis said.
‘Um, you wouldn’t happen to have any dry clothes?’ Levi asked, stopping them before they could get lost in memory lane.
‘Actually,’ Tamra said. ‘I do.’
She came back with two sets of clothes. They were loose-fitting linen pants and a tunic. Levi had never worn anything like it, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
‘Shower is that way,’ she said pointing down the hall. ‘I’ll start dinner while you two get changed, and then we can look for those photos.’
‘Thank you,’ Alexis said. ‘You don’t know just how much I appreciate this.’
After dinner—whichdid indeed contain tofu—Tamra took them to their sleeping accommodations for the night. It was a yurt.
‘I fancied myself a BB operator,’ Tamra said with a sigh as they walked along the covered path to the circular, canvas-covered building. ‘But after the first lot of guests… well, let’s just say I don’t think it’s for me. Now I use it for friends who need a place to stay.’
She unlocked the door and swung it open to let them inside. It was surprisingly large, with a domed ceiling topped by a skylight. The floor was polished wood with scattered rugs, and the walls were decorated with tapestries. In the centre was a slow combustion stove.
‘It’s lovely,’ Alexis said, walking around the space.
‘I admit I sometimes spend the night out here,’ Tamra said, following Alexis with her eyes, a proud smile on her face.
‘It even has an ensuite,’ Alexis said, opening the door to the bathroom to show Levi. ‘I think I could live here forever.’
Levi frowned. He didn’t know if Alexis was actually joking or if she meant it.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to it,’ Tamra said. ‘Goodnight.’
Alexis flopped backward onto the bed. The bed… as in the only bed.
‘Uh… there’s only one bed,’ Levi said.
Alexis rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand as she looked him up and down. ‘And?’
‘A-nd,’ he repeated slowly. ‘That doesn’t bother you?’
Alexis snorted. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ She patted the bed with her free hand. ‘There’s plenty of room for the two of us.’
‘Are you sure?’
Alexis just grinned at him. It was the answer he wanted. He’d offered to sleep on the floor out of politeness, not because it was what he wanted. How many times had they been interrupted when things had just started to get interesting? But was tonight the right time? Alexis was on a quest to find her mother, and today had been emotional for her. Tamra and Alexis had spent the entire night talking about Lily and poring over old photos. Levi hadn’t minded. He’d enjoyed watching Alexis as her face lit up with excitement whenever Tamra shared anything about Lily. Did he want to sleep with Alexis? Of course he did, but maybe he should wait until things were a little more… calm?
‘What are you waiting for?’ Alexis asked, sitting up. ‘I promise I won’t bite… not unless you want me to.’
He crossed the room and sat next to her on the bed, turning so he could face her. Lifting a hand, he cupped her cheek and then slid it around her neck to tangle in her hair.
‘I want this,’ he whispered, before kissing her gently. ‘But I can wait. I know things are?—’
Alexis cut him off by pressing her lips against his. ‘No buts,’ she murmured. ‘I want this too. I want you.’
‘But—’
‘No buts,’ she repeated, pushing him back on the bed and straddling him. ‘There will always be something. There will always be a family drama or a work crisis or… something. I put a lot of my life on hold because I was waiting; waiting to be told I was good enough, waiting to be told I was ready to handle a case on my own, waiting for my mother… so have you. I’m sick of waiting for it to be my turn, aren’t you?’
He nodded. She was so beautiful, looking down at him with her hair arrayed around her face and glowing in the lamp light. He could hardly even believe he was here with her, let alone that she wanted to be with him.
‘Let’s just take this time for ourselves,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s forget about everyone and everything else and steal a moment just for us.’
He reached for her, pulling her down for a kiss. She went willingly, opening to him with wild abandon. He rolled them over and settled between her legs, not breaking the kiss. Her fingertips scraped up his chest and around his neck as she pulled him closer.
He broke the kiss momentarily to look deep into her eyes. ‘Alexis,’ he breathed. ‘Is this really what you want?’
‘Yes,’ she replied, pulling him back down to the kiss.